In the canton of Graubünden, the high season for hunting has barely ended, and already the rifles are being oiled for the next hunting phase.
Editorial staff , November 2, 2025
https://wildbeimwild.com/en/special-hunting-when-animal-cruelty-becomes-routine/
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Not only in the canton of Graubünden does the annual aftermath of the high hunt begin with the special hunt.
While deer, roe deer, and chamois are long since exhausted and prepared for winter, amateur hunters are once again venturing out. What is officially considered “regulation” is in reality an attack on the last vestiges of peace and quiet enjoyed by wild animals. This is precisely the time when wild animals should be conserving energy, building up fat reserves, and finding rest to survive the long winter. Instead, they are once again disturbed, hunted, and killed under the guise of a supposedly “sustainable” forest and wildlife policy.
Over 3,400 red deer, 2,500 roe deer, and almost 3,000 chamois have already been massacred, but according to the Graubünden Office for Hunting and Nonsense, that’s not enough. Now, a so-called special hunt is underway to further “decimate” the red deer, roe deer, and chamois populations.
The justification is always the same: forest and wildlife must remain in balance. But on closer inspection, it becomes clear that this “decimation” has long since become an end in itself, and the balance the authorities speak of is above all else: cruel and man-made. The special hunt serves to simulate high wildlife populations so that they can be “decimated” again the following year. A perverse system that perpetuates itself at the expense of the animals.
The narrative of the endangered forest
Officially, the special hunt is intended to protect the forest. Too many deer and roe deer are said to be eating young trees. But this argument falls short or deliberately obscures the fact that the problem is not the animals, but rather forest management. The protective forests in Graubünden are fragmented by forestry, tourism, ski slopes, recreational hunting, and road construction. The natural habitat of the wildlife has shrunk, refuges are lacking, and the animals are constantly disturbed by recreational hunters. Instead of addressing the root causes, the focus is on fighting the symptoms: the animals themselves.
Special hunting: Regulation without end
This year, a further 1,711 female deer and calves, 281 roe deer, and ten chamois are to be culled in Graubünden. The targeted hunting of mothers and their offspring is particularly problematic from an animal welfare perspective. It leads to stress, suffering, and frequently results in inappropriate shootings. Often, injured or orphaned young animals are left behind, dying a miserable death—a situation that is hardly compatible with modern wildlife ethics.
The authorities call it “population management.” In reality, it’s a self-perpetuating hunting machine: High game populations are provoked by earlier interventions, which then justify further interventions—a perpetual cycle of killing and subsequent regulation.
The targeted hunting of female animals and calves for recreational purposes is contrary to animal welfare and ethically unacceptable.
Mother animals are torn from their herds, calves are left to wander or die. This is called “herd management,” but in reality, it is a systematic form of animal cruelty.
Furthermore, repeated hunting in a short period causes chronic stress for the animals. Their flight instincts remain active for weeks, leading to increased energy consumption and higher mortality rates in winter. This practice contradicts all forms of wildlife biology and ethics.
The wolf as a natural regulator – undesirable
Particularly absurd is the fact that the wolf, which could act as a natural regulator and thus fulfill the role of special hunting practices, is being politically opposed and shot. In a functioning ecosystem, the wolf would do precisely what recreational hunters now demand: it would select for weak animals, adjust populations, and restore natural balance.
However, in Graubünden, the wolf is still considered a nuisance. It is referred to as “problem animals” and “conflict areas”—terms primarily used to maintain human control over wildlife populations.
“Sustainability” as a fig leaf
Official statements claim that recreational hunting is an “active contribution to nature conservation.” This rhetoric is convenient and misleading. A hunting practice that kills thousands of wild animals annually, including mothers and calves, while simultaneously eliminating natural regulators like wolves, can hardly be considered sustainable.
Sustainability means nature’s self-regulation, not constant human intervention. As long as hunting quotas are based on outdated forestry dogmas, recreational hunting remains an instrument of power, not of natural ecological balance.
Time for a real forest-wildlife policy
Nature doesn’t need special hunts; it needs peace, space, and respect. Instead of killing thousands of animals “according to plan” every year, it’s time to…
- to recognize natural regulators such as the wolf,
- To consistently protect habitats
- and no longer align hunting policy with traditional or economic interests.
As long as the Office for Hunting and Nonsense proudly presents its figures as a success, the most important question remains unanswered: When will the killing finally stop and when will the understanding of nature begin?
- Protective forest: Hobby hunting creates problems it claims to solve
- The wolf is not the problem – he is the solution
- Forest conversion: Paths to resilient mixed forests in the face of hunting
- Forest conversion at Lukmanierpass
- Hunting is not the solution for forest conversion
- Hobby hunters do not help forest conversion
- The conflict between forestry, hunting, and wildlife
Exposing the Big Game 